Most people know Dwight Howard as a professional basketball player in the NBA, who now plays power forward/center for the Houston Rockets. However, with the debut of Basketball Wives in April of 2010, fans of the star and viewers of VH1 were granted a backstage look at Howard's romantic relationship with his baby mama -- Royce Reed. Since then, things have taken a wrong turn. Dwight and Royce find themselves in a custody battle, fighting child abuse allegations and at least one parent took their small child to an inappropriate birthday bash.
Shortly after Basketball Wives, Howard's infamy grew when it became known that the baller was under investigation for beating his child, Braylon, with the wrong end of a belt buckle. Strangely enough, he is simultaneously attempting to gain full custody of the child.
More recently, however, it seems the parenting skills of the boy's mother--Royce Reed-- are also questionable, after she decided to take their son to a Hooters restaurant for his 10th birthday. She then plastered inappropriate pictures of the event on Instagram.
Mstars outlines the specifics of the alleged child abuse:
"The Cobb County PD in Georgia now has an active criminal investigation into allegations he beat his 6-year-old son Braylon with a belt buckle. The Dept. of Children and Families in Florida (DCF) determined there wasn't enough evidence of child abuse to go forward, but it turns out the incident occurred in Georgia. Howard admits he hit his kid with a belt but says he didn't know it was wrong because he was hit as a kid."
Now there is this sad excuse of a birthday for the boy, which at its core is just a child's inappropriate attendance to an adult-themed restaurant.
Unfortunately, this information coupled with TMZ's reports may make parents really start to worry for Braylon:
"There are] court docs, [where] Howard has accused Reed of exposing Braylon to sexual situations. Howard claims his son has witnessed Reed engage in sexual acts with her numerous companions. Howard believes this photo is just the latest example of his son being exposed to sex."
But who is to be believed? Is there more to the story? TMZ went on to say that:
"A source close to Royce says her son's birthday party was at a Monkey Joe's bounce house earlier in the day -- with his classmates -- and she merely stopped at Hooters for food. The source also says Royce has never had any man in and out of her house, and has never exposed Braylon to sex."
What do you think about the alleged claims? Will these events affect Howard's career? Let us know in the comment section below.
